Come Along with Bill & Mary Ann Going Full Circle on the 2015 World Cruise -114 days+

[Krazy Kruizers]

Only Liberty of the Seas will be in Ft Lauderdale on Thursday. She only does 4 and 5 day cruises.

[BlackJack2]

We thoroughly enjoyed all your post – thanks for taking us on your world cruise!

 

Looks like we will be on the Amsterdam together on the Tales of the South Pacific Cruise in October. Looking forward to meeting you.

[durangoscots]

When we came into FLL on Princendam in March from South America cruise we were held up disembarking because the luggage was not taken off and set up in a timely way. I was supposed to leave ship around 8:00 and is was nearly 9:30 before I got off. The hold up was on the pierside luggage side of things. They had let some people off for early disembark and they were still sitting around on buses when I got to my airport transport. They were not happy.

 

Susan

[Searanger]

Bill and Mary Ann have followed all your world cruises postings....Thanks for sharing!!!

 

My 2 cents...

For some reason every HAL ships that transverses the Atlantic (east or west) goes through the Azores. April /May can be such a miserable months to cross in either direction. Personally I will never cross again unless done by the southern route. (not fun when the wind is blowing and the air is cold) Can’t understand when exiting the Med why the world cruise can’t head south to the Canary Islands and then cross over to Caribbean with stops in likes of St Maarten and then than Half Moon before Ft Lauderdale. The southern route is usually calm and warm…have they forgotten passenger comfort and enjoyment.

[PathfinderEss]

Just wanted to thank you for taking us around the world with you. I can't believe it's already over. Looking forward to your Disney cruise.

Edited April 29, 2015 by PathfinderEss

[Rotterdam]

Bill and Mary Ann have followed all your world cruises postings....Thanks for sharing!!!

 

My 2 cents...

For some reason every HAL ships that transverses the Atlantic (east or west) goes through the Azores. April /May can be such a miserable months to cross in either direction. Personally I will never cross again unless done by the southern route. (not fun when the wind is blowing and the air is cold) Can’t understand when exiting the Med why the world cruise can’t head south to the Canary Islands and then cross over to Caribbean with stops in likes of St Maarten and then than Half Moon before Ft Lauderdale. The southern route is usually calm and warm…have they forgotten passenger comfort and enjoyment.

 

Basically its the business plan that most business takes today....Profit first...at all costs. And yes they do not care about passengers....but alas cruises are a discretionary expense...and there are so many better choices out there....it's your choice not to be sucked in by misleading marketing & glossy brochures.

 

``

[Island Lovers]

Thank you Mary Ann and Bill for sharing your World Cruise with us. Your time, writing and experiences shared are all appreciated. We enjoyed the Amsterdam just prior to the 2015 World Cruise and hope to return again to this lovely ship. Best wishes on Disney and a safe trip home in a couple of weeks.

[WCB]

Report # 120 Sailing Towards Ft. Lauderdale, Florida April 28, 2015 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 63 degrees

 

Something seemed most unusual when we woke up this morning. Instead of totally gray skies, the sun was actually shining through our window. That is about the first time since we left the Azores that we have seen blue sea waters and equally blue skies.

 

So instead of going to the two lectures in the Queens Lounge about the pirates of the Caribbean, or the law of global commons, we packed our pool stuff up and went to the aft deck. It seems like it has been a month since we have been able to sit and relax back there. Even though the wind was blowing across the deck, it was still nice enough to sit in the sun and read for a few hours. This time we made sure to use plenty of sunscreen, because the last time we thought the sun was not that powerful, we were wrong.

 

During his talk at 12:45pm, Captain Mercer said that we were coming into another storm system with thunder and lightning sometime tomorrow. Sort of knew that the sun shining would be a passing thing. In fact, the closer we are getting to Florida, the cloudier it got. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that we have begun seeing some small flying fish once again. Must be due to the seas warming up as we head south. Another odd thing we have spotted is the presence of an algae bloom. We noticed this last year, when we were in Ft. Lauderdale, and went to the beach. There were clumps of the green growth everywhere on the beaches and in the surf. Figures the rain might be coming, because we packed the umbrellas, and have no idea which duffel they are in.

 

We heard a lot of comments about the error made with the special plates we were given. In fact, when we got back to our room around 2pm, we found a letter from our hotel director, Henk M, acknowledging the defects and the oversight. He promised that the company will make new plates with the correct itinerary, and send them to us where we live. Henk also suggested to stop bringing him the plates, because due to the defects, it may be worth some money over time, Royal Goedewaggen profusely apologized for this error, and will be sending everyone a replacement directly to their home. We are certain that this news will please most everyone. Henk added that they appreciated our understanding and patience. He was being nice, because we heard that many folks were not that nice about this matter.

 

With just two days left, it was a time for sharing email addresses with new folks, and promises to keep in touch with our longtime friends. Some of them will return next year, but some will not. The common remark we seem to hear from many people is that the 2016 itinerary is so similar to this year’s, that they will either do the second half of the cruise, or wait until 2017. It is possible that 2017 will have Japan and Korea on the list, and that will be different. Probably cold weather, but different.

 

There was a champagne farewell reception and presentation at 4:30pm and 7pm in the Queens Lounge. The Captain gave a short and sweet speech, followed by a rundown of the ports and the donation efforts of this particular cruise. Then Gene, the CD, showed clips of a video he put together with the crew. The fun continued at dinner tonight with the waiters, room stewards, and chefs parading down the stairs to the cheers of the diners. They finished with a song, delivered from the steps of the central dining room. This has taken the place of the Baked Alaska Parade we used to have. In fact, there was no baked Alaska on the menu, but they did have cappuchino bombs, the second ones this week for us.

 

We did have company for dinner tonight. Friends Ellen and Aart joined us, although one was missing. Maureen, who had asked Ellen and Aart to come to dinner, was dining in the Canaletto with florists Eddy and Callista. We had a fine time with them, as we always do when they visit. We finished eating in time to go to the show lounge to hear the singer, Heather Sullivan, entertain the crowd. Having performed at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and the House of Blues in LA, she added a touch of class to the music she sang.

 

Not expecting any more gifts, we found some in our room tonight. We were given 2 sets of Seattle’s best candy bars, along with 2 ceramic tile refrigerator magnets with the 2015 world cruise on them. At least, that cruise line was drawn correctly.

 

One more day left………..

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Folk Singer]

Thank you so very much. Safe Travels Bill and Mary Ann.:):)

Edited April 29, 2015 by Folk Singer

[sagavista]

Bill and Mary Ann,

 

I want to thank you for sharing your daily postings of your amazing voyage. There were many days your postings transported me to the exact spot you were writing about.

 

Look forward to your Disney adventure. All the best and continued sailing.

 

Ed Tighe

[WCB]

Report # 121 Sailing Towards Ft. Lauderdale, Florida April 29, 2015 Wednesday Partly cloudy, rain, strong winds & 63 degrees

 

Nothing tells you more than partly cloudy, rain, and strong winds that today is only suitable for staying indoors to pack. But then, at this point in time, you had better be mostly done with the dreaded job. We were, and still, with the last minute clothing and small bathroom items, it took the better part of the morning to finish bagging and separating what we need, and what goes home. Agreeing that it was so much easier to stay on this ship as she repositioned to the west coast, it took more thinking to pack again for a 2 week cruise. And “thinking” is something we have had little need to do. We will be spoiled after this long time with being cared for, especially in the cooking and housekeeping departments. We do consider ourselves lucky to be able to continue our journey for another couple of weeks however. And it will be very interesting to be able to compare the Disney experience to the HAL one. Actually, we are looking forward to it, as we were Musketeer fans back in the “old days”.

 

Thinking we may want to come back to the dining room for lunch, we tried to keep breakfast on the lighter side. Sometimes, that is a difficult thing to do. We like Greek yogurt, and also fresh fruit. The melons, blueberries, strawberries, and pineapple have been so delicious, we order a plate of them almost daily. In may be in our minds, but we credit the combination of the yogurt and fruit in keeping us healthy. That, along with a religious constant use of the Purell stations and handwashing with lots of soap, all day long, no matter where we are……on or off of the ship. Anyway, since we have eaten breakfast at the same table with the same excellent waiters, we said our thanks and goodbyes this morning. Tomorrow will be a day where most of the usual staff will be deployed elsewhere. Hopefully, many of these waiters will be back next year, but most of them do not know what their assignments will be that far ahead. And frankly, most of them do not care, just as long as they are working somewhere on another DAM ship.

 

There was a change in the time we were asked to put our luggage out in the hallway. As soon as we left the room this morning, our steward told us to feel free to put our bags out as early as possible. They would be collected during the day, and not just after dinner time. Since we were pretty ready with most of them, we did just that. By the time 2pm came around, all of the luggage had been removed. We only had one more small bag to out after dinner. Much easier for us and them.

 

The promenade deck was mostly cleared of all passengers due to packing and the foul weather. The strong winds blew the light rain sideways all the way to the promenade room windows. There still was one lecture happening in the show lounge about the space program….the triumphs and the from the cold war days to the present. Sounds to us like a subject more men might be interested in, giving the ladies time to do their packing. Also, today is the last chance to buy things like in the photo shop. Did we mention that we received an 8 x 10 photo of our President’s Club group at the Mariner Medal Cocktail Party? Very generous of them once again.

 

Sarah C, the luggage shipping expert, was still busy wrapping up the final loose ends for the folks to ship their stuff. She had two time slots…..one in the morning and one in the afternoon for those who waited until the last minute to take care of this service. Not everyone on this voyage gets complimentary shipping. We think that applies only to those who book from a certain outside category to the suites on deck seven. Inside cabins and those who live outside the Americas do not get the shipping for free. We sure do not mind paying a little extra to ship another bag or two home, since it is so easy. You do not have to be home to sign for it either. As long as you know when your local driver delivers daily, you just watch for them once you are back. So much better than flying home with it, and worrying about the weight. Most times, Sarah has a helper that travels with her. But this time, she came alone, and has been hard at work ever since boarding in Ponta Delgada.

 

Lunch time was great spent in the dining room for a change. We each ordered a vegetarian taquito with guacamole and fresh tomato salsa. If we had known they were going to be so good, we could have doubled the orders and been happy. This is something we have not seen on the dinner menu. We also have not seen the beef stew we had for our entrees. The serving portions were conservative, thank goodness, and quite delicious. We topped off the meal with ice cream. Perfect way to enjoy our final lunch on the Amsterdam.

 

During lunch, we talked about where we have been on this trip. Some of these areas can be considered the most dangerous places in the world, especially considering the headline news as we traveled the globe. No matter where you are, you have to be aware of the dangers of pick pockets, or shady characters. That could be even where you live, as well as any place where poverty is a problem. We visited many of those places. Even innocent countries came with warnings from the shore excursion staff like in many of the islands of the South Pacific, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, the Middle East, and even tourist –saturated Europe. All of the Egyptian ports had been cancelled, so we did not need to worry about those. Definitely among the most dangerous……..Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria, and Safaga.

 

The three day visit to Myanmar was a first for us, as well as many of our friends onboard. And as we had expected, it came with many warnings. Even at the isolated port, we had to be very careful about getting taxi drivers, as some were not reliable or trustworthy. For us, it was one of the better places to take the organized tours with our travel agency. And we did feel the safety in numbers as we came back one evening, several hours late, due to traffic and possibly illegal demonstrations. Nope, not a good time to be out and about on your own in Yangon, especially after dark.

 

By the time the ship arrived to Mumbai, India, it was ready to add the razor wire on the lower promenade deck railings. From there on to the Mediterranean Sea, there was a 24 hour surveillance team on the boat deck. Reassuring to know there were so many eyes on the horizon. We were not onboard during that part of the cruise, as you recall we took an overland trip to see tigers. Guess we can say that our independent trip was the high point of the entire trip for us. But it did not come danger-free. The one portion of the excursion to get from the city of Jabalpur, specifically, the four hour drive from the airport to the safari camp, had to be done during the daylight hours. Didn’t work out that way due to flight time changes. A decision had to be made upon landing to either stay overnight in Jabalpur, or take our chances, and drive straight to the lodge. We did not want to sacrifice any game drives, so we put our trust in our driver and his escort to get us there safely. In hindsight, after reading the India guide book a little closer, we learned that this particular road is one of the more dangerous ones in central India. We found out that the large trucks were subject to hijacking many years ago….at night time. It wasn’t until recently, that more police or the military entered the scene, and reduced the robberies significantly. The biggest danger we faced were the number of huge trucks traveling at high speeds on the narrow roads filled with people on foot, motorcycles, and bikes. And few of them had headlights. Add to that, potholes in the road also posed a problem with possible accidents.

 

With the uneasy feeling of danger, also came the opportunity to see the daily lives of the locals. At night, everything was even more pronounced with the fluorescent lights shining on the roadside stands on the outskirts of the city. We never saw such gorgeous colors with the saris for sale hanging from the ceilings in the local markets. The aroma of food cooking on the make-shift BBQ’s was something we never would have noticed during the day. The best memory of that drive was being able to see the stars so bright, we could have reached up and touched them. Once we left the outskirts of town and got into the village areas, it was so dark, we could see nothing but stars. And obviously, we made the trip safely, and the rest was perfect.

 

Dubai in the United Arab Emirates was very safe, since we had xray checks going off the ship, as well as going back on. Absolutely everywhere we went in Dubai had a noticeable police or military presence. The problems in the Middle East had been heating up by the time we were sailing through the Straits of Hormuz and around the coastline of Oman. Now we were getting into pirate waters near Yemen and Somalia. At this point, Yemen was in the news daily with reports of civil war. Not a great time to be heading into the Red Sea. But then, we were assured that there was a big military watch in this area, and we were not alone. We saw the ships and airplanes as we sailed through the narrow spots between the warring countries.

 

Now we were headed as fast as we could make it to the Suez Canal. Don’t remember exactly when it happened, but we began to sail at night with all of the outside lights off. This was eerie to walk outside after dinner, and be strolling in complete darkness. The security guards were there with their night binoculars fixed on the dark waters. The Suez Canal zone always has a large military presence. We think it was more guarded than ever. Then when we had the special dinner with the head honchos from Seattle, Captain Mercer mentioned to us that sometime around midnight, as we left the canal, the bridge was dark, and the traffic had been stopped. Feeling something bad was going down, he put the pedal to the metal, and got the heck out of there as quickly as he could. Although this was probably not the area where this happened, but several guards had been killed near the canal zone by rebels. The violence in Egypt continued well after we were gone.

 

We really did not relax until we were out of the Israel and Turkey areas. Both of these countries are too close to Syria, and also the Palestinian areas of Israel. You never know when the missiles will start flying.

 

The day evaporated by the time we watched a good movie, No Good No Master. A true story, we almost need to watch it twice to get all of the details. Wonder if they show movies on Disney? Hopefully, they are not all cartoons.

 

The final log of the cruise was delivered to our rooms, and we calculated that the total distance traveled on the 2015 world cruise was 34,770 statute miles. Hard to believe that by going between 15 to 20 knots, you can rack up that much mileage. Just took a long time to do it.

 

Dinner was fun, but sad, because we will miss our group of fellow sailors. Even Ellen, Tom M, our host, and Leslie and Handler stopped by to visit. By this time tomorrow, we will all be scattered miles apart.

 

Gotta get up early tomorrow to get in our last dining room breakfast. This is a daily habit we will really miss.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS We will be back soon……..stay tuned for more adventures!

[cruz chic]

Thx so much for this wonderful thread. Looking forward to the Disney portion.

[seaside sally]

I send my thanks also -- I have looked forward every morning to reading your daily report

 

I will look forward to your reviews from the Disney Cruise as well

 

As for DH and I, we will be sailing on The Noordam this coming Tuesday for 11 days

 

Enjoy your next cruise!! :)

 

Linda

[gymswim]

So glad to have been on this World Cruise with you and Bill. I've enjoyed reading about your impressions of the ports we visited. Hope to see you on another Dam ship!

[Louise sail]

Thank you so much for your reports have enjoyed reading them and wish you a safe ride home with Mickey.

[hpf]

Thank you Bill & Mary Ann for taking us on your wonderful journey with you. We hope you have a safe trip home on your Disney Cruise, just pretend to be a kid again. We will also follow along on this new adventure.

Don't cry because it's over smile because it happened and were safe and healthy.

 

Helen

[DeepWaterMariner]

Consifer going to the theater to see some movies on Disney. Best movie theaters you'll find on a ship these days.

[TiogaCruiser]

Thank you for taint us along again.

 

Am wondering how big the final cruise log is. The ones we got on 7 and 14 day AK were a single page and had some nice detail. I was surprised the 21 day long was the same size- and consequently rather anemic on detail.

[Ineke]

I have been doing the vicarious traveling along with you and all your other readers. Thank you!

[regnig]

Mary Ann & Bill.... MANY, MANY thanks for taking us along with you on this wonderful voyage. We appreciate the time you took to make your daily posts. Looking forward to hearing about Disney.

[Harry1954]

Thanks for the wonderful narrative.

We will see you guys again on WC 2016 - this time for the full cruise.

harry

[Cruzin Terri]

Thanks for taking us along. I will be interested in reading your continuing adventures through the Canal on Disney.

Terri

[roberts2005]

Thank you for your daily reports it was fun following you on world cruise. I look forward to your next cruise

[WCB]

Report # 122 Ft. Lauderdale/Miami, Florida April 30, 2015 Thursday Cloudy, but warm and humid, perhaps 83 degrees

 

Well, here we are, traveling full-circle around the globe, and back where we started in the beginning of January. Cannot fathom that four months have flown by, but as always, time marches on. The Grand World Voyage was super, and we will remember the good times we had with our best friends and also new ones.

 

Now we look forward to a new adventure. But first, we had to start the day early by getting up around 5:30am. By then, the Amsterdam had docked, and there was already much activity on the dock when we looked out our window. First of all, the massive amount of luggage had to be unloaded, and set up by colored tags in the terminal. On a shorter cruise of perhaps 14 days, you would expect every cabin would have 2 to 3 suitcases. However, for those of us who did the entire trip, we had a bit more. For us, it was a total of seven bags……4 duffels and three suitcases. Not bad, considering we collected a few souvenirs and received a pile of gifts from the staff. Some of the gifts were bulky, like the rolled suitcases, and the Delft tile drink mugs and plates. We did keep all of the nicer and breakable gifts in their original boxes because they will protect them from getting damaged. So in the end, with all of the personal items used, we only ended up sending one extra suitcase back home. The other two suitcases came with us for the next cruise. From what we saw later on in the terminal, we guess we had the least amount of bags to be shipped home.

 

Before going to the dining room for our final breakfast, we tried the internet, but had no luck. When it finally did connect, our minutes had run out. So much for that. Knowing that we would have free internet at the hotel, we decided not to buy any extra minutes on the ship.

 

Breakfast was from 7 to 9am. It was not too crowded, but the usual customers were there. Lola and Rufous, and Arlene and Frank, all of whom sit near us every day, were also present. We are all part of the same travel group, so we have gotten to know each other by comparing excursions and ports every sea day. We will miss our pleasant mornings in the dining room with our really nice waiters.

 

We walked the promenade deck to find that the crew had covered the teak railing on one side, we think, to bring some materials to be used for the retrofit. Many rolls of plastic sheeting had been brought there to begin covering the teak decks. And watching the crew gangway, we noticed several men arriving in groups…probably part of the 500 who were boarding today to begin the work.

 

We hung around until 9am, despite the fact that our number had been called right after the expedited group went off around 7:30am. Since we did not have a flight, we were in no big hurry to get off. However, the more we thought about the warnings a few days ago that we might have delays due to a shortage of customs agents, we decided to not take any chances of getting hung up.

 

Henk and Christel came by and gave us hugs, along with Leslie and Handler who had joined us in line. Maureen came around the corner, and joined us to get off. Even Dr. Ron stopped, shook hands with the guys, and gave us girls a hug. Gene, our CD, and Henk, the Hotel Director, were there at the gangway saying goodbye to each and every passenger.

 

The porters were lined up with carts as we entered the terminal building. Within minutes, we were loaded up and in line to pass off the customs form. The friendly official welcomed us back to the USA, then scanned our passports. We were free to go. One of the terminal gals asked if we had taken every piece of our luggage. She added that many folks were confused about what went through the customs line, and what went to Fed Ex trucks. Some had left their tagged bags, assuming they went automatically to the trucks. No, we had to take ALL the bags through the line, even if they numbered 15 or 20 pieces, as some of them did. One of our new friends, Toya, remarked that she had brought way too much stuff. Well, that was not the exact word she used, but we know what she meant. We laughed because that was how we started a long time ago. Now we had it pared down to lots less.

 

The Fed Ex trucks were right outside the terminal, where our porter loaded the five tagged ones, and gave us back the other two. He then led us to the front of the taxi line, and we were off to Miami within 5 minutes. Easy. Most of the commute traffic was gone, so the ride took less than one hour.

 

Checking into the hotel was a snap. Although the usual check-in time was 3pm, we were able to get a room that was ready, but not with the requested king bed. We could have waited until 3pm to get that bed, but it was only 10am, and we wanted to unload the bags and get on with the day. So we ended up with two double beds and eight pillows between the two of us. That will work just fine for one night. There was a large group of people checking out. They were obviously back from a cruise, since they all had the telltale duty free shopping bags from the Caribbean Islands. With all of the ships that leave from here in Miami, we bet this hotel gets a ton of business year round. It may not be the fanciest, but it is the most convenient.

 

Before we left the hotel, we checked with the hospitality fellow to see if he could locate our documents sent by Fed Ex. They had arrived from our travel agent yesterday, so that made us happy. We had been worried that they would not arrive on time or at all, but we should have known better.

 

The internet was also included here, so we used it in our room and were surprised to see how fast it was. As well as writing home and letting family know we got off of the ship and were in Miami, we updated the anti-virus systems. Only took a few minutes.

 

The hotel is located right across from the Bayside Marketplace on Biscayne Blvd. It is a brightly-colored outdoor shopping center with a mix of suburban mall stores and vendors selling touristy knickknacks. Many folks like us were out and about, biding our time to either board a ship or go home tomorrow. We have been to the marketplace before, as recent as a few years ago. At that time, we were on a Regent ship and on an excursion where we boarded a small double-decker tour boat. We had an hour and a half sightseeing Miami’s skyline, the Port of Miami, Fisher Island, Miami Beach, and the homes of “Millionaire’s Row”. That is where the rich and famous celebrities have mansions and private boats. The cost for the tour is about $25 for seniors, is was really fun. Even more so on Regent, because the tour was free.

 

After walking around the shops and kiosks, we headed for lunch. But first, we did happen to find an unusual set of jewelry at a small kiosk, and bought it…highly colorful and something new for the Disney cruise. Our destination was the Hard Rock Café for lunch, and also to buy a city t-shirt. We have always wanted to stop in here to buy one, but never had the time. We ordered their signature cheeseburgers and a couple of beers. They sure tasted good. On the way back, we passed a gelato shop, and shared two scoops of vanilla in a small cup. Also really good.

 

Between going to bed late last night, getting up early this morning, and transferring to here, we were a bit tired. The beer probably contributed to that as well. So with all of the channels to choose from in our room, we watched a good movie until 6pm. We also like the Travel and Food Channels, so we watched some fun shows there until 7pm, then headed out once again to eat a light dinner.

 

We found that at Chilis, one of our favorite restaurants at home. We love their salads. One of them has a balsamic-cilantro dressing that is addictive. Sure have missed that salad for four months. We splurged and shared a warm brownie caramel ice cream-covered dessert. Note, we said shared. Now we don’t feel so guilty, because it was really good.

 

We strolled around the shops and found the American Airlines Arena was right across the street, another huge attraction to this area. To our surprise, there was a fabulous sunset, which we would have missed if we had not walked down that way. By the time we reached the intersection to go back to the hotel, the sun was down and the sky was already getting dark. Perfect timing, we were back to the hotel before 8:30pm, and ready to watch some more good TV programming.

 

Tomorrow should be another busy day, and the beginning of the new adventure……..

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[vino100]

I have so enjoyed the daily reports of your world cruise. What an advemture you have had this year. Thanks for all the time you took so all those of us that aren't on your cruise can get a taste of your adventues.

You are coming home to beautiful weather.......I live about 30 minutees from you !